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War of the Three Emperors
The War of the Three Emperors, '''also known as the '''Third Macillium Civil War '''or as the '''War of the Five Dynasties, was a major conflict in the known galaxy of the Macilliums, taking place from 3909 to 3914. Origins It is easy to say that the first seed of the war was sown in the late 3870s, in the aftermath of the Nexxan War of Succession. George III, at the behest of his grandson Crown Prince George-Bruce, was incredibly lenient and compassionate to the defeated House of Spheorza, and gave them amnesty. He began peace talks with Ondrad VII as a way of ending the centuries-long dynastic feud between the two houses, a move that infuriated Nicholas II, Proman Emperor, George's ally. Nicholas and his family were more so enemies of the Spheorzas than any other members of the House of Macillium, and felt cheated and betrayed by his cousin's action. These peaceful actions precipitated even more so under George IV Bruce, who even gave back seized holdings taken in the war in 3901, much to the anger of Nicholas III, Nicholas II's son and successor. The fallout of this hatchet burying distanced these two branches of the family, resulting a sort of cold war between the two empires. Meanwhile, the young and charismatic Frederick II of Ayggiya had been conquering large swathes of territory alongside his allies, the members of NAD. His expansionism was beginning to encroach upon the other empires' spheres of influence, slowly disrupting the balance of power that was established three centuries before. The once close and friendly relationships between the Westron, Eastron and, Nordstron had begun to splinter, with constant arguments between the monarchs over galactic issues. One of the main reasons why war had not started already however, was because the Promans and Ayggiyans were fearful of the strong leadership of George IV and the vast wealth his empire held. But when he abdicated after suffering fatal injuries, the throne fell to his young adult son, William I. With William's accession, the other two empires saw opportunity in the belief that he would be too young and ill prepared for the job, making the American Empire weaker by comparison. The first proving ground of this theory was during the succession crisis of the Kingdom of Kalmar, in early November of 3909. John XIX had died childless with no clear heir; The Kalmerish government called upon many important lords from the houses of his distants cousins, including the the three emperors (the only time they would meet each other all at once), to decide upon who would succeed John XIX. William gave three options: his youngest brother the six year old, King Thomas of Panthrand; Charles-Rudolpho II of Cerack; and his half-brother Dominic. Frederick II gave two: his younger brother Alexander and his second son, Charles. And Nicholas III offered only one: his younger son, Francis. The Kalmerish named Francis their king, an action that expantly further distanced the three branches. Ironically, Francis was more inclined to the American view of the House of Spheorza and on other issues, and did not share his father's vengeful nature. This fact proved important to William as he found in an ally and friend in the new king. Still, the three emperors returned to their bitterness, and by extension, their empires, with the Proman and Ayggiyan monarchs believing that William was inadequate and too young to rule America effectively, a farce that would come to be disastrous for both in five years time. The true sparking point of the war happened in late November of that same year in both the Proman capital city of Brobul and in the American Protectorate of Golstér. Golstér, like many systems of the Protectorate States, despised American rule due to its unfairness towards the people's civil rights, and, much like the two other emperors, the Golish believed William was too weak and rose up in rebellion and defiance. At the same time, Nicholas III signed an alliance with a handful of powers, pledging to defend one another and "to "liberate all peoples, of every corner and slum, of every manor and every palace from the iron grip of oppression imposed by all men of greed," and included a free Golstér as apart of the pact, with the Golish rebel leader, Jojen Talavar signing it personally, which outraged William I. Operation Scorpio Within a month, Nicholas III and William I mutually declared war upon each other, followed by a well prepared invasion campaign known as Operation Scorpio commencing under the command of Proman General Landhow Mandelry. The task was easier said than done; Mandelry's objective was to ruthlessly raid Florrulium with Proman shock troops and blitzkrieg until it broke down, while cutting off American supply lines from the west, but Florrulium never fell before under American rule, being known as the "Great Fortress of the American East," so he had a lot of work cut out for him and the men and women under his command. Although his main line never broke into the district even with superior numbers and resources, he was easily able to bring the supply lines to heel and even ravaged America's eastern protectorate worlds. For both sides, the campaign was essentially indecisive, although many lives were lost in high numbers. Late in the operation, Nicholas III, frustrated with America's successful defense and his general's lack there of in offense, decided to settle a personal score and to coax William's attention away from Florrish defense. He sent his elder son and heir, Crown Prince Nicholas, to ransack the Spheorzan Federation to spite the young William. The prince was far more successful than his counterpart, and conquered the Spheorzan systems of Lagavra and Sapulter within a week while crushing opposing American forces in their major protectorates in Lombardy and Rhahalasha, putting Proma on the winning side, at least for the moment. Hanra Oex and Gordaynia As Nicholas III wanted, William did move his watch, just not quite where he had intended. William set his eyes southward towards his southeastern neighbor, Gordaynia. Gordaynia was a young empire, but was one of the largest and most powerful of the Brobul Pact states, ruled by the autocratic House of Ykri. In fear of American wrath that his nation had suffered from previous wars with the American Empire, a young elected official and former conscript, Hanra Oex, led a revolution to oppose the prideful Ykris, which gained a surprising amount of success and attention. It was Oex who personally plead with William to spare his homeland, knowing it could be a casualty, but instead pledged to assist the American Emperor bring about a quicker end to the conflict if war was inevitable. William agreed to his offer, and with his help, guidance, and knowledge, William was able to bring the large Gordaynia to it knees with a much smaller amount of lost lives. The Emperor, with Oex serving as his lieutenant, personally commanded and organized the three billion troops dropped on the Gordaynians, and proceeded to conquer and shortly annex the empire in less than two weeks in early January of 3910, in what would be called Operation Iron Cross or William's March, a feat that shocked the galaxy and brought fear into the homes of the Proman commanders and their emperor. Stalemate and Galactic-Wide Tension The fallout of William's March may have brought a potential enemy to heel for the American Empire, but if anything it just angered the Promans more and further expanded the war from an Amerigo-Proman conflict to a galactic one. Most of the Brobul Pact States joined the fray and declared war on America while William's allies, calling themselves the Westron Brotherhood, did the same, their leaders including his younger brother Thomas I and the surprising addition of Nicholas III's son Francis I, and his uncle Lexus XXVI. The war became winnerless. William, although an apparent capable military genius, was unable to gain much ground since Operation Iron Cross due to the superior numbers and resources of the B.P.S., while Nicholas III and his allies by contrast were unable to gain much ground due to military blunders or that their military wasn't as well trained. Still, the losses were high, already surpassing the amount of deaths from the First and Second Macillium Civil Wars, and the situation would remain unchanged for the next year. Operation Firefly and the North's Entry During this year of fighting between the Proman and American Empires, Frederick II was making movements of his own. Always considered the smallest and weakest of the three Macillium empires, Frederick had always made it his personal goal to end this belief. Frederick had spent the whole of his reign expanding Ayggiya to new heights of power, making Ayggiya a colonial empire by taking control of his many neighbors while forming strong alliances with others, particularly with Wequasia, creating the NAD. He also believed the ultimate goal was to defeat Amerca and Proma in some way. With the said empires now embroiled in war, an opportunity presented itself. For the last year, he was anteing he and his allies armies for battle and preparing his military masterpiece, Operation Firefly. In February of 3911, he executed his plan, sending his foremost generals into the field. The objective was to constantly raid every the territory of his enemies he could reach, while leading full-blown invasions of Savona and Lombardy, the devastated no-man's land of the war, as a way of broaching his foes' attention. Much like William's March, the Ayggiyan onslaught shocked the galaxy, catching the Brotherhood and the B.P.S. entirely by surprise. Firefly was a huge success in the end, Ayggiya gaining much greater ground with even fewer casualties originally expected, and forced the surrender of three of the belligerents in the war, Provos of the B.P.S, with Panthrand and Republican Lombardy falling shortly after, capturing Thomas I in the process. The Trimester Crisis The Ayggiyan victory was somewhat short lived, as the war's stalemate resumed, just with an increase of ferocity and destruction for the next four months, the period being known as the Trimester Crisis. The four month stretch was considered the height of the war, with more deaths than any other time during the war, going as far as having more deaths than men could land on the battlefield for five days straight during the bloodbath of the Battle of Halifax. However, the war, although indecisive, sped up drastically as many of the minor allies of the three titular emperors were forced to either surrender or back out of the conflict, including Amanshet, Belacas, Fijoli, Nangalor, and even Golstér, whose rebellion sparked the war. Operation Rubicon The stalemate finally lifted with Operation Rubicon, a massive Proman offensive. The plan was masterminded by General Beresford, who became Mandelry's replacement after he was dismissed. Beresford's plan was designed to take down various choke points of both the Brotherhood and NAD before committing to large-scale invasions. Similar to Firefly, it proved successful with significantly fewer casualties. Whatmore, it would severely weaken the NAD as a whole, and it actually managed to lead to an invasion of America proper, the only one seen throughout the conflict, with 5 billion proman troops landing in Cyaanovairia and Urmania by the campaign's end, besides conquering Rhahalasha. It also personally pleased Nicholas III, as it saw the near obliteration of the Spheorzan Federation, forcing Ondrad VII to flee with his cousins, family, and government to refuge in Unitas, staying as personal guests of William I. Battle of the Youths William, infuriated of his defenses' failure and worried for his people, decided to lead the expulsion of Beresford's forces in person. He called upon his friend and ally, the young King Francis of Kalmar, and headed eastward with a strong host to route the Proman advance. At Kadova, the vanguards of the two armies met in force on the ground. As it happens, the leader of the Proman vanguard was none other than Crown Prince Nicholas, Francis's brother. The three young lords dueled each other, with Francis and William being the victors, driving Nicholas into retreat. For the next handful of weeks, Kalmerish-American forces jointly repelled the Proman advances and Beresford was forced to fall back, bringing Operation Rubicon to a close in early Novemeber of 3911. Operation Ragnarok and the Northern surrender The next year would be grueling, but progressive; it seemed 3912 passed by significantly quicker than the last few. Even more, in contrast to 3911, 3912 was more peaceful with all three empires and their remaining allies mostly recoiling and regrouping from the terror of the previous year. This half-baked armistice was shattered when the activation of Operation Ragnarok by America's part came about in January, 3913. William, desiring to get his brother back from Frederick II and seeing the Empire of Ayggiya in a broken state economically and militarily, led his largest invasion yet of the NAD. For four brutal months William and his forces rained hellfire upon the Ayggiyans and their allies, specifically the Wequasians, Brostervalians, and the Vyornish, defeating then all at every turn. Then on April Fool's Day, 3913, William I stood in the city of Majjorum, a suburb of the Ayggiyan capital, and forced the Ayggiyan surrender. He asked for only a few things: his brother firstly, the dissolution of the NAD, and the complete independence of all the Ayggiyan colonies, Frederick's life work. For the good of his people, Emperor Frederick II agreed to the terms, marking the exit of the NAD from the war. Now William turned his eyes toward Proma. Endgame With the North's defeat the war returned to two sides once more. The Promans regrouped and readied themselves for another assault, holding all that they could. But, effective though it was, the last campaign had spread their forces to thin, and were by extension weaker. So when the Americans came force from every direction, they barely could stand the storm. WIlliam had ordered the commencement of Operation High RIse, his finishing move upon the Brobul Pact States, himself commanding many of the armies directly for the next half year or so. Although no direct attack was made against the Proman Empire, the campaign was designed to see the surrender of its allies and outreaching territories. While William I, the new coming General Oex, and William's Grand General Caster were crushing Lernish and Ashgarnac forces at the Battles of Francs and Skarhold, Francis I was liberating the reaped Federation along his family's old enemy, Ondrad VII, the irony not lost on either of them. At the very end of the operation, Francis once again beat and captured his brother Nicholas at the massive Second Battle of Sapulter, driving Proman entirely from the south. Meanwhile, William was leading an outnumbered army with low amounts of provisions in Rhahalasha, in what would be called the Battle of the Long Days. With great difficulty, he manages to win alongside his best friend, Richard Greystone. After this engagement, the BPS was entirely dispersed and the Promans were in a purely defensive position, as they would be for the remaining five months of the war. William, much like his distant predecessor and ancestor, Nicholas the Magnificent, led a massive invasion of the Proman heartland, but unlike him, William only reached the border. Proman forces met in Eragona, the ancestral homeland of the House of Spheorza, where joint Kalmerish Panthrandic and American forces took with ease. Nicholas III surrendered with little fight, submitting himself to William's terms to not see destruction befall his country. William's terms were simple enough; he wanted Nicholas III's abdication with Francis as his successor, for the family to recognize Spheorzan sovereignty, and to pay war reparations for the damage control. Aftermath and Legacy The War of the Three Emperors would serve as a hallmark for William I's reign and would be considered the herald of the Williamite Era that would follow. However, if the war's end was intended to unite the House of Macillium, it did not. The war, the worst the galaxy would see since the War of Order, only made division more commonplace. The Westron gained a sense and aura of dominance over the other two branches, breaking the balance of power that head held fast for three centuries, severely wounding the other two. As for the people, the conflict made them more opposed to monarchism and imperialism, which would culminate in the Second Proman Revolution some seven decades later that would nearly eradicate the Eastron from existence and mark the fall of the First Proman Empire, leaving only the Westron and Nordstron in a position of power. For Gordaynia, the war could be considered a good thing. The former empire prospered under Williamite rule, and the Oexes, who were often praised as heroes, would become the leaders of the Gordaynian peerage, ruling them in William I's name. Golstér by contrast was remembered as a martyr of American cruelty, for whose rebellion they were harshly punished. Furthermore, William hypocrisy for forcing the independence of Ayggiyan and Proman satellites was not forgotten either, for which much of the galaxy would scorn him for. Economically, the war would have a lasting effect even into the present. The war was costly for every belligerent. but most for America and Proma. In fact, the war would be the leading factor of the Great Embargo Crisis of 3915, but would end with an economic revolution that would see the fall of the Corporate States and their dominance in trade and the market. The system since then has been in place, unchanged. However, combined with the war, the Crisis would only hasten the coming of the Proman Revolution that forced Francis II's deposition.